(28 BBY)

 

This year we carried out a couple of small pirate raids on Trade federation freighter flotillas.

 

The first instance was when I had received reports of three Lucrehulks transporting cargo mainly planetary level weaponry and shields. We ambushed them and captured the three freighters.

 

The second was a small fleet of 2 DH-omni supply ships and 5 Munificent class freighter. In both cases all the crew were slaughtered and spaced. All the ships were then sent to Eldith to be overhauled and modified.

 

For over a month the trade federation was making a ruckus about pirate attacks and launching a crusade against them. I had to lay low for a couple of months till the ships were retrofitted and the heat died down. Some pirate gangs inadvertently ended up taking the brunt of their wrath. The DH-omni supply ships were modified to fleet support ships, the servitor series of ships (These were fitted with improved armor and shields, large amounts of point defense and light turbolasers, they had large fuel tanks, ship resupply retractable arms and medium factories for droids and vehicles installed. Instead of vultures they had a huge fleet of Gatobar engineer droids. It still had large amount of room to spare even after all the extra addons), this freed up the Lucrehulks for combat roles. All the Lucrehulks were converted to the supercharged battleship configuration.

 

The munificent class ships also got a refit (The bridges were moved within a protective cocoon of armor, instead of just jutting out. The armor was upgraded. Subsidiary power and extra shield generators were added. Then came the armament, 5* Prow heavy turbolaser canons, 3 long range heavy ion canons, 35 twin turbolaser canons, 20*light turbo laser turrets, 15* flak guns, 40*point defense laser canons, 1*hyper wave jammer. It had a compliment of 40 vulture droids and 50 boarding craft. They also have 10,000 active and 100,000 deactivated B1s ready for action). As a result of these raids, I got a large cache of planetary shields and weapons to deploy on my slowly expanding territories with the first raid and a lot of raw resources in the second raid. 

 

I had the forge produce a few more of these ships as well. Which now considering all things, I might have gone overboard with. My little expeditionary fleet now consists of 20 Lucrehulk-B battleships, 30 Munificent destroyers 10 servitor class ships. Yep definitely went overboard, but this gave me an idea. I had the forge prepare three more fleets like this. These are going to be used to have a little fun during the clone wars.

 

Later this year we will carry out major piracy actions against the trade federation to justify these numbers later on. It will most definitely be fun.

 

(27 BBY)

 

Last year we carried out scathing attacks against trade federation shipping. We would pull trade convoys out of hyperspace with gravity well fitted on some Lucrehulk-Bs. Then the Communication will be jammed. Then we will surround and board all the ships after hitting with unrelenting barrages of ion canons. We didn’t leave behind any survivors or evidence to our attacks. With these raids we accumulated another 15 Lucrehulks, 20 Munificent and 15 Dh-Omnis.

 

We actually don’t need to capture ships, but we needed to show a source for the fleet I will be deploying. If I just appear out of nowhere with a massive fleet, it will raise unnecessary alarm bells throughout the galaxy. Well more than what’s manageable.  

 

Due to these attacks they pulled back to medium sized mobile dockyard in Saijo system a jump away from Mustafar There were atleast 20 Lucrehulks, 30 Munificent undergoing repairs and refits there, so that they could respond to the sudden rise in piracy. There were atleast 10 Dh-Omnis also present there, they were bringing in supplies. Their mistake was huddling around the dry dock. Sure, any direct assault will be costly with them being grouped up like that. But it will make the easily susceptible to area of effect weapons. It was for this mission I developed a new weapon. It was basically a large flying EMP bomb.

 

I had converted a dozen Maxillipede into a large EMP bomb. They would be piloted by three droids. They were also provided with Trade Federation transponder codes. This will allow them to slip in and reach key locations unmolested, and strike at the very heart of the gathered fleet. When they were in place, the droids will activate the devices, which would then discharge a large EMP waves. The EMP barges would remain unharmed as they were shielded from the discharge.  

 

Once the all the ships were disabled, we jumped in with a large fleet of battleships. Then everything went as before. Capture everything and kill everyone leaving behind no witnesses or evidence. As an added bonus we got a mobile dockyard out of this as well.

 

After these raids, I had gone to Corellia and registered the ships under different subsidiaries of the company as trade vessels. I had to throw around large sums of credits for the authorities to turn a blind eye to the discrepancies and for their silence. Those who wouldn’t keep quiet, met unfortunate accidents, which were then covered up. The green Jedi tried snooping when a few executives simultaneously died of poor health, but all they found was evidence of the deceased officials taking part in slavery rackets, and that they had discord with their main partners. This evidence was enough for them to go snooping in another direction.

 

The Trade federation created a storm in the senate about the increased Piracy. Even Palpatine had stepped in. He requested the Jedi to investigate. I think he knew they wouldn’t find anything; he was just using the opportunity to defame the order. We had left no evidence or survivors behind.

 

We decided to lay low. This meant keeping the fleets out of Republic territory, especially when the fleet currently has ships resembling the ones the federation had reported stollen. They will look quite different after the retrofits.

 

But we decided that waiting for things to cool down by doing nothing would be a waste. I will use this time to wipe out a possible future problem. The Vagaari. I mobilized most of the already complete fleets for this operation. This will be a good blooding for the new officers and Admirals. I gave them One mission, to surround Vagaari space and exterminate everything with extreme prejudice and to keep loses to a minimum. And I gave them two weeks from the start of operations to finish it. The Vagaari were all clustered together in the space around their old home world, in a collection of nomadic fleets. This opportunity couldn’t be wasted. But I had to time it right. As my fleets lay waste to the Vagaari I had to prepare for something else.

 

As the allotted window for the operation closed, they had returned Victorious. We had only sustained minimal losses, if any. It was a good opportunity for my forces to gain some experience. Some officers stood out during this operation and these men and women will be the foundation of our armed forces. Plus, we got rid of a possible future problem. I had instructed my officers to carry out thorough extermination. Which they carried out with extreme prejudice.

 

When the fleets where out exterminating vermin, the retrofits to the captured ships were completed. The ‘expeditionary’ fleets, for use during the clone wars were ready. There was a total of three fleets. Each fleet consisting of 20 Lucrehulk-B battleships, 30 Munificent destroyers,20 lancer frigates for fighter screening and 10 servitor class ships for fleet support. Quite a potent fleet. I took command of Fleet One, I will be assisted by Admiral Krald Droon. While I placed the second fleet under Usut Lail and the third fleet under Kald Vukong. These three are the some of the most promising admirals that stood out during recent operations. While I take out my fleet during the clone wars, the rest will carry out operation under Fleet Command.

 

It was time to make a move. To win the ‘friendship’ of the Chiss.

 

I knew the battle will take place in Vun’Hanna, in grid D-7. When the time comes, I will move all three expeditionary fleets to engage.

 

I had a cloaked scout ship in system, streaming back data.

 

Soon the Vong and Chiss started engaging each other, quite fiercely. It becomes quite apparent my design choice for ships will pay off. The Vong scout ships were only 100m or so in length, but their Dovin Basils and Yaret-Kors started shredding through chiss ships. I had by principle always used larger inertial compensators for my ships. This will reduce any and all stress acting on the ship’s structural components as well as shields. The only drawback they will need more power to run, for which I always make my ships larger and add more power generators.

 

As soon as the Chiss Fleet reached half strength it was time for me to act. I jumped in with all three fleets. It was also a show of strength for the Chiss to see.

 

We dropped in behind the Vong scout fleet at some distance. Then I formed my fleets into a crescent formation, three ships high, this will allow for maximum concentration of fire power downrange to smash the hostile fleet. Then I launched all fighters to screen any incoming Vong fighters, if any. Since the Vong were already fully engaged with the Chiss, they were taken by surprise and unable to effectively reposition to engage the larger and more heavily armed ships.

 

The battle drew on for a few minutes before the whole Vong fleet and three fourths of the Chiss fleet was wiped out. My Destroyers and escort ships suffered varying levels of damage, but the upgrades held. It was good field test for when we will have to face their larger fleets.

 

Now I asked the whole fleet to move in set a perimeter around the wrecks and the servitors to repair the damaged ships and harvest all the wrecks.

 

It was then I received an incoming signal. “This is admiral Ar’alani of the Chiss Ascendancy. Who am I speaking to?”

 

“This is Nomad of the Mandalorian Ghosts. It seems we arrived in the nick of time” I replied.

 

“Indeed. We were ill prepared for facing this unknown foe. We would like a share of the alien specimens and data.” Said Admiral Ar’alani. She knew she was in no place to make demands.

 

“Very well. They shall be sent to you after we have scoured through the wrecks. I would also like to formally send a request an alliance with the Chiss Ascendancy” I said.

 

“Which faction do you belong to?” she asked.

 

“We are a knew faction. If you doubt our strength, I will tell you that the current republic will not be a match for us. And in a few years, we will carve out our own territories. As a friendly gesture I will warn you not to get involved with the republic or the growing separatist movement. Both are just a farce, and doomed to implode soon enough. Either way they will soon have problems of their own. If you have trouble believing us, just sit back and watch. Time will prove everything.” I said looking at the admiral’s contemplative face “I will contact you when I have finished salvage operations”.

 

“Very well” she replied and cut the transmission.

 

After we gathered everything we needed, we handed a share of the samples to the Chiss, as well as any data we gathered. The transfer of samples, information and data that will increase the chances of them allying with us or atleast make them friendly.

 

After that we departed to Eldith

 

 

(Month 6, 27 BBY)

 

The outbound flight was launched recently.

 

I had to use this opportunity to kill Kinman Doriana and make connections with Mitth'raw'nuruodo or more commonly known as Thrawn.

 

The killing part was quite easy. I had T7 infiltrate the ‘task force one’ flagship, the Darkvenge. He would then upload a virus into the ships navigational system before exfiltrating.

 

What the virus does is quite simple. Just as the ship is going to enter hyperspace, it alters the coordinates entered by the navigational officer. Sending the large doughnut straight into the nearby sun.

 

A simple method, no one will find out whether it was an assassination or just an error. And dark prune lord will lose one of his most devout supporters and agents.

 

And now it’s a matter of capturing the Outbound flight.

 

Just like it was supposed to happen taskforce one dropped out of hyperspace and awaited the arrival of the colony ship. The only problem being that the flagship was missing. Everyone among the task force was confused, that’s for sure. The intercepts we received proved that. Soon enough the Chiss and task force one, start engaging each other. Seeing Thrawn’s brilliance first hand was fascinating. He deserved his Title as a strategic Genius.

 

The battle draws on, with Thrawn decimating the smaller vessels. But he left the Lucrehulk intact, most likely to study. It was then the outbound flight dropped out of hyperspace. It was time for me to act.

 

I jumped in with my fleet of 10 Lucrehulk-Bs, 15 Munificent and 8 Servitors. This fleet caused thrawn to pause, and he withdrew quite a distance away to observe what’s happening.

 

As soon as we dropped out of hyperspace, I ordered all ships to target outbound flight with ion canons. No matter what, being raked by so many ion canon shots will disable even the mightiest of battleships, let alone the Outbound flight. Next comes the interesting part. I com the Outbound flight.

 

“This is Nomad of the Ghosts; I request you surrender peacefully. I don’t want unnecessary bloodshed” I say. And as this happens, my fleet encircles the colony ship. We have their weapons emplacements and engine locked in and targeted. The moment they so much as twitch we will light them up. I also had a perimeter of ships set up to dissuade Thrawn from doing something.

 

“This is Jedi Master Jorus C’boath, you are in direct violation of Republic laws. You have attacked and impeded a colony mission authorize by the senate and the order” he stated.

 

“Oh, are you now. Who would believe what a deranged lunatic with a sense of grandeur says, you just want to hijack this mission and create your own little happy empire. You see those ships there. They were authorized by the chancellor to destroy you.” I countered.

 

“The republic is a lost cause. I will create a new empire where the non-force users are ruled over and guided by the Jedi.” He says.

 

“I will whole heartedly agree that the republic is a lost cause. But the second part is not going to happen. You see, your little misplaced sense of grandeur and plans for an empire are going to disrupt some of my plans. So, it is here by cancelled. I suggest you surrender.” I said in a continuously monovalent tone.

 

“Never!” he shouts cutting of the transmission.

 

I turn to the officer in charge of the ship “Launch boarding parties. Prep them for anti-force user tactics. Send the droids in first.” I say as I slowly turn my attention to Thrawn’s picket force. “Try and take the colonists alive.” I add to the orders a little later.

 

Then something hits me. I smile “Target the main dreadnaught cruiser acting as the bridge. Aim for the connections attaching it to the rest of the colony ship. I want it ripped off from the rest if the ship, now!”

 

Soon turbolaser rounds rain down on the linkages connecting the bridge ship to the rest of the structure. Sure, there was some collateral damage, but under the unrelenting fire power it was shorn right off.

 

“Connect me to the enemy bridge again. And continue the boarding action on the remaining main structure. Previous engagement rules still stand” I say as I watch scores and scores of boarding craft and pods launch from my ships.

 

Soon a holo of Jorus pops up. “What have you done? You are destroying the future of the galaxy” he states in a fit of rage. My plan had worked. I cut off the command ship from the rest of the structure before Jorus could escape into the amin body of the ship. This will help keep civilian deaths to a minimum. These people where experts in their respective fields and I had uses for them.

 

“I saved atleast 50,000 civilian from a deranged lunatic.” I say with a bit of scorn in my voice.

 

He seethes angrily and tries to force choke me Darth Vader style. But it doesn’t work, this shocks him. “Die scum” I say as I order all nearby ships to destroy that lone disabled cruiser. It was soon lit up like a Christmas tree, with only a small wreckage remaining. Everything else was melted away by unrelenting waves of turbolaser fire.

 

I wait patiently as my forces plow throw the main body of the colony ship, capturing the colonists and killing all opposition. The Jedi onboard are not trained enough to stop my troops who are trained in tactics to use against force users. The millennia of peace had weakened them.

 

Soon the ship was under my control. I ordered the colonists and cargo be moved onto a Lucrehulk and put under strict guard until further notice. Then I turned my attention to Thrawn. I took half the battle fleet toward the disabled trade federation Lucrehulk.

 

It was then I received coms from them “This is the keeper. We thank you for your help. We had feared the worst. Atleast now we know the chancellor had secretly sent more help to destroy the outbound flight” says the neimoidian captain. He doesn’t even take into consideration that he was just saved by a non-trade federation fleet with this many Lucrehulks and Munificents. Well I am not going to complain about the incompetence of the trade federation when they are practically just handing me ships.

 

Once the coms are cut, I pass out new orders “Board the trade federation ship, under the guise of helping them. Once sufficient troops are onboard, kill them all and take that ship for our cause. After its under our control, order the servitors to patch it up” I wait for the order to be passed out. Then I ask my coms office to connect me to the chiss picket force.

 

Soon a holo appears, the all so familiar figure of grand admiral Thrawn. But right now, he is Captain Mitth’raw’nuruodo.

 

“You are trespassing on sovereign Chiss ascendancy space. I demand you leave.” He says.

 

“A pleasure to meet you as well captain Mitth'raw'nuruodo. I am Nomad of the Mandalorian Ghosts. We will leave when we have salvaged these ships and rescued the colonists from the outbound flight” I say. There was slight surprise on his face, most likely because I knew his name.

 

“Ah, it’s you. How do you know me. And these ships are ours.” He says again.

 

“I make it a point to know people of interest, especially someone of your skill. As for the ships. I will be taking the Lucrehulk, but I will leave the wrecks of the remaining trade federation ships and the outbound flight for you. Consider it a gift. After all I did propose an alliance with the Chiss Ascendancy” I said.

 

“Very well” he knew he couldn’t win against me in the current scenario, plus as of now I had a somewhat friendly relation with the Chiss. So, it was best to take what you get and cut losses.

 

“Great. It was a pleasure Mitth'raw'nuruodo. Please pass on my regards to the ruling families. And in the future if you want, I will have a place for you among my fleets. We all know about the approaching threat; I would always have a place in my admiralty for someone of your talent. Farewell” I say cutting the connection. What I didn’t tell him was, if he comes, I will put him through training like everyone else to become Mandalorian. Plus, he likes studying other cultures right. *Sinister smile*

 

Once all the colonists and cargo were moved onto waiting ships, the outbound flight was handed over to Thrawn.

 

We spent a few more hours waiting as the Lucrehulk was repaired and made space worthy. I also had to make sure that it wasn’t leaking hyper matter or any other traceable fumes, someone could use that to track my course.

 

 

The colonists where given an option to either return to republic owned space or join me. To expedite their decisions, I showed them evidence that the republic wanted them dead, which also included the recordings of transmissions from Palpatine to the task force and the surviving task force officers communicating to me, they had slipped up and revealed their plot. And to no one’s surprise they decided to join me. I will be sending them to training camps, were they will be further trained based on their skill sets and slowly turned into Mandalorians.

 

We went back to Eldith after everything was sorted out.